Outtaverse part 11: The greater victory
by Madcap13
Summary: Buffy goes on the warpath in LA when she finds out Angel was hiding Dawn from her.


Outtaverse part 11: The greater victory.

Summary : Buffy goes on the warpath in LA when she finds out Angel was hiding Dawn from her.

Feedback: "Any time something is written against me, I not only share the sentiment but feel I could do the job far better myself. Perhaps I should advise would-be enemies to send me their grievances beforehand, with full assurance that they will receive my every aid and support. I have even secretly longed to write, under a pen name, a merciless tirade against myself."

That was a quote from Jorge Luis Borges. I've always found it kinda inspirational. So go on and be inspired by flaming me like you know you wanna.

Disclaimer : Regardless of how out of character I make them act, they still retain those atavistic properties which make them belong to other people. Darn you, God. Can't I create anything without you taking credit?.. uh.. hang on. What am I talking about again?

Warning : Gore, swearing, violence, torture with undertones of rape and badly done gangsta. You have been warned.

Recap : Won't make a lick of sense if you haven't read episode 10 which it continues off so much as to almost be the same episode.

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Four hours earlier, in a dimly lit room, somewhere in LA.

Dawn was sitting in a lotus position, hands resting palm-side up on her knees. Her eyes were closed and she wasn't moving.

Two young street kids were watching her.

"She's not asleep." the younger girl told the older boy who was less than ten.

The older one snorted, "She is so asleep."

"Tip her over then." the girl challenged him.

"Alright. I will." he accepted the challenge.

The boy crept quietly into the room and was just about to push Dawn over when her arms whipped out and caught his own.

He screamed his head off and the girl screamed and ran off.

Dawn just opened her eyes and smiled sleepily.

"Lemmego!" the boy yelled and Dawn let him go. The boy kept screaming and ran out of the room.

"Scaring the kiddies again?" Darwin asked as he leant in the doorframe into the room, trying to look cool.

He was half Afro-American and half something else that Dawn wasn't sure about. She didn't consider him bad looking but having seen him fight she totally saw through his tough guy act. The fact that he was only fifteen years old, the same age Dawn would've been, didn't help.

"I don't like being touched when I'm meditating!" Dawn told him, "I really hate it."

Darwin rubbed his chin, "Isn't meditation supposed to make you mellow?"

"Oh. You think this is me mad?" Dawn asked, almost a challenge.

"All I'm saying is you're one highly strung up bitch."

Dawn continued to glare at him.

Darwin just chuckled, "Grubs up. You want some?"

"What's it this time?"

"Tuna loaf." Darwin replied, "Smells fishy to me."

Dawn smiled at the bad joke and knowing that it was also the truth, being able to smell it from where she was "meditating." It wasn't due to some form supernaturally enhanced sense of smell either. They were burning the food again.

"So you want some?" Darwin asked again, "I'll eat yours if you don't."

Dawn groaned and got up, knowing that she needed to eat to keep up appearances. It seemed to put the younger ones at ease seeing her do normal things, which she liked.

It meant she could scare them more later on by lulling them into a false sense of security now.

Her routine with the found boys was quite routine for the most part. Patrol at night, sleep during the day, practice during the evenings and meals in between. Sometimes she would get bored and just go shopping. At least that was what she told the found boys. Everyone knew she was lying but no one really seemed to mind that she had a life outside of hunting vampires.

At lunch, Dawn ate some of the burnt tuna loaf and despite the black parts, it wasn't that bad. It wasn't exactly lunch either. It was some meal that was half-way between breakfast and lunch for the hunters but was staged around five pm. It only made sense if you slept through the day a lot.

Afterwards, she went upstairs for her usual bout of martial arts practice. It was the custom in the found boys that the actual hunters for that night would only practice fighting after the nights hunt instead of before. Dawn went against this tradition and practiced whenever she got a chance.

When she first became the person she called Lucy, she wasn't very coordinated. Tell had thousands of years practice at fighting but not in Dawn's body. So, she practiced heavily and with that practice she was slowly regaining her confidence and skill.

Darwin and Rhondell were watching her from the other side of the room.

Rhondell was just supervising the training while Darwin was scoping out Dawn's coarse fishnet stockings.

Rhondell noticed the younger teen leering at the object of his desire and asked "Hey, Darwin. What's with the Mr T starter kit?"

"Just a little bling bling." Darwin said, looking at the huge hubcap of a medallion hangin around his neck.

"Yo look like a foo. Take it off 'fore the one time pull you over for impersonating fifty cent."

"It's no more bling than she wears." Darwin argued, gesturing towards Dawn.

"And she looks like a fool too." Rhondell laughed, "Oh, I get it. Still trying to get into her tighty whities, huh? Just give it up, bro. She's a crazy ass white girl and you're you. Let's just leave it at that."

Darwin smirked and quoted something he heard once, "It's all pink on the inside, bro."

"Better not mess with that kool-aid. She'll bust you up if she hears you talking like that."

"Hey, it aint like that. She's into me. I can tell."

Ignoring that comment, Rhondell said "There's something weird about that girl."

"You mean the make up? I can look beyond that. Heh, or below that. Have you seen her shake her ass when she dances. It's hypnotic."

"Not the make up, the girl herself. You don't get a chill every time she walks into the room?"

"No. You do?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, I get it. You want her for yourself." Darwin smirked.

"Dude, that's whack."

"But true."

"No. It aint true." Rhondell said seriously, "But you know I don't mind white girls though. Like you remember Phyllis?"

"She aint white!" Darwin laughed, "She's Porto Rican."

"Looks white to me." Rhondell argued then chuckled, "At least her tan lines do."

"She's got tan lines?" Darwin asked, "That's rank."

"No, it aint." Rhondell shot back, offended, "I like tan lines."

"Weirdest fetish I ever heard of."

"It's not a fetish. Everyone likes tan lines. You're the only one who doesn't."

Darwin frowned and shut up.

"I can think of one good thing if you two got together." said Rhondell as Dawn slammed a trainee hunter onto the matt, "If she got laid once in a while she might lay off a bit on Bruno."

"That's what I'm thinking." Darwin lied, "Gotta redirect that anger to something else."

"Uh-huh." Rhondell said skeptically.

"That's right." Darwin said, patting down his jacket and readying himself for a major make out session, "Now watch me work my magic."

Rhondell did indeed watch him, with some amusement as Darwin walked over to Dawn and replaced her sparring partner with himself.

He was obviously asking her something suspicious by the skeptical look she was giving him but she went along with it anyway.

For a few minutes, she went over some basic grappling with him. A few times this ended up with him throwing her to the matt but she didn't seem to mind.

Then Darwin did something really brave. He had Dawn in a straight jacket position, holding her arms around her front from behind. The brave part was that he was dry humping his crotch into her from behind. Dawn stopped and looked down in confusion while Darwin caught the attention of the rest of the training room who stopped what they were doing and waited for disaster to unfold.

"That had better be a knife poking into my ass." she said.

"What if it isn't?" Darwin asked mischievously.

"If it isn't then, well, uh." said Dawn before somehow falling down, slipping between his legs and coming up behind him while holding his hands between his legs. As she stood up, she pulled on his hands and Darwin flipped up and over, falling onto his behind. As he was still confused about what happened, she put him into the similar straight jacket position but with him in her place.

"Hey,hey what?" Darwin yelled as she did the motions of dry humping him from behind.

"Hey. This is fun." Dawn yelled out to the class, "Who else wants a go?"

This got some laughs and a few offers. Since she had made her point to Darwin, she let him go. He picked himself up, dusted himself off and took his position by the wall next to Rhondell.

"Yeah. She wants you." Rhondell smirked.

"Come on, man! That's embarrassing."

Rhondell couldn't help but smile, "Trust me, she's not an ice queen, she's an iceberg. Better off frenching a flag pole in winter."

Darwin frowned and said "She just needs warming up."

Rhondell looked at him seriously for a moment then shrugged, "Your funeral."

"Hey. You don't think she'd be up for graveyard sex, do you?"

Rhondell winced, "Don't ask me stuff like that."

"Come on, man. That's what goths are into, isn't it? Doing it in the graveyard?"

"How the hell should I know?" Rhondell asked.

Before Darwin could make an even bigger fool out of himself, one of the girls in the found boys took Dawn off shopping. The girl was Orianna, a strikingly attractive black girl who was only seventeen but passed for twenty one when push came to shove.

"Orianna, maybe you can get her some decent clothes." Rhondell said with a smile as the two girls left the gym.

"We were thinking the same thing about you." Orianna smirked back, saving Dawn from thinking up something.

Once they were walking down the stairs, Dawn asked Orianna, "I don't dress that badly, do I?"

The apparently older girl laughed, "Hell yeah. Just look at that necklace you've got on."

Dawn looked down at the necklace and back at the other girl, "What's wrong with it? It's a cross."

"Girl, I've seen crosses before but I've never seen one with purple and red gemstones and covered in batwings like that."

Dawn frowned. The abhorrently gothic crucifix was her favorite necklace.

"Next you'll be saying I need new boots." Dawn said sullenly.

Orianna looked at the tie-up knee high platform boots and shrugged, "They ARE kinda ugly and they can't be comfortable."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Dawn whined, "These are the shit."

"How about just shit?" Orianna joked, "Seriously though. What's wrong with a brand name?"

Dawn thought about it, "Nothing really. Doc Martin make some decent shoes and… does the Israeli army count as a brand?"

Laughing at the obvious ditz act, Orianna asked "So Darwin likes you? You like him?"

Dawn put on a slight smile, "Not like that. He's really not my type. He does make me laugh though."

"So what is your type?"

Dawn shrugged, "Older I guess."

"Oh, you're into Rhondell?"

"Rhondell aint all that." Dawn said, trying to blend in with a little ebonics, "I'm just not looking to get hooked up right now. It's the last thing on my mind."

Orianna frowned, watching Dawn as she took an old black bag from the backseat of the beige Volvo Dawn drove around. Then Orianna smirked and said "Oh, I get it. You're getting a little action on the side."

Still with her head in the car, Dawn righted herself and hit her head on the roof, "Ow! Look what you made me do."

"But it's true. Isn't it?"

Dawn rolled her eyes, "No. It's not true."

"Then where do you go when you take your car out?"

Dawn thought about saying something smart like she's gone to visit her grave, which would fit with the gothic motif that had become her life. But in the end she just shrugged and lied.

"Nowhere special."

"So it's not a boy?" Orianna pouted.

"No." Dawn laughed, "I just drive around, clear my head. Drop by my old neighborhood sometimes."

"And where's that?"

Dawn frowned, "You're asking a lot of questions. Did Rhondell put you up to this?.. Oh no. Darwin put you up to this, didn't he?"

"So what if he did?" Orianna asked with a smile, "Just wants to get to know you."

"Not much to tell."

"Come on. I haven't heard your story. Everyone's got a story here."

Dawn sighed, "Can't we just go shopping?"

Orianna shrugged, "Sure. Let's go."

"Take the car?"

"Nah. Let's walk. It's a Tuesday. Looks like it'll be a quiet night."

Dawn smiled, knowing better.

"Sure. Let's walk." she conceded, slamming the door to her car closed.

OXOXOX

Just after nightfall.

Angel walked quietly but purposefully into the rooftop greenhouse.

After a few steps in, he called out "Drusilla. Daddy's home."

"Daddy?" Drusilla asked, "Is that you?"

Smiling sadly, he nodded and she came forwards, looking as innocent as a preschooler.

Then she brought the spade in her hands up and whacked him across the chin, sending him sprawling back.

"Bad wicker man thinks he can fool me." Drusilla ranted as she brought the spade down and down again on Angel, "Make a nice bonfire for festival."

Seeing as rolling back wasn't doing him any good, Angel rolled forwards. He got hit hard for his efforts but managed to bring a leg up and hit Drusilla in the gut with it.

She fell back, dropping the spade along with her.

"Only Spike could understand that prattle so you might as well stow it." Angel told her, "I'm here to stop you. This all ends here."

"But it's just started." Drusilla tittered, suddenly deliriously happy.

Angel squinted at her then spun around with his stake, aiming at the chest behind him.

Darla wordlessly caught his arm before he could drive the wood home and then picked him off the floor by the throat with his other hand.

"Baby's up from her little nap." said Drusilla as she got back up, "Now we can be a family again."

Darla looked at Drusilla as if staring at a stranger and Angel brought his fist down on Darla's outstretched elbow, making her drop him. After this, he tried pushing forward with the stake again but she just used both hands to push him back, demonstrating more strength than the usual newborn vampire.

"You should be happy." Drusilla told Angel as she kicked him in the ribs, "Happy! Happy! Happy!"

While she was doing this, Darla grabbed Drusilla and threw her aside, through the glass windows of the greenhouse.

Seeing this, Angel blinked and looked up at Darla who now had her human face on.

They stayed like that for a second, neither knowing what the other was thinking.

Then Darla ran out of the greenhouse and off the roof while Angel yelled out to her "NO!"

Groaning in pain, he got up and looked around for Drusilla, who was nowhere to be seen.

OXOXOX

Sunnydale, outside the Summer's household and down the street a bit.

A vampire was threatening a covert operative with his sharp teeth and jagged forehead.

Buffy and most of the Scoobies were watching this with some interest. This experience could come in useful in their future interrogation endeavors.

Xander was looking through an incriminating folder and said "Whoa, that's one ugly… Huh?"

Willow took a look at the folder and gasped.

Seeing that it was something shocking, Buffy asked "What is it, guys?"

When she didn't get an answer, she grabbed it from him and looked for herself.

"What is this?" Buffy asked as she took a photo out of the folder and held it in the NID agent's face.

When he didn't answer, she punched him, "ANSWER ME! GODDAMNIT!"

Before he could form a coherent sentence, she hit him again, "TELL ME!"

Kennedy rushed in and stopped her from killing the man, having already broken his nose. She heaved back on Buffy and got some help from two of the soldiers on her side.

"Buffy, calm down." the bigger Slayer asked, "What's in the photo?"

"Let me go!" Buffy yelled back at her and broke free.

"Ow!" Kennedy hissed and hopped on one foot as the blonde Slayer stumbled off to her convertible.

No one really knew what was going on and it got even more confusing when Buffy drove off.

Almost everyone was at a loss as to Buffy's actions but it was Faith who asked the question everyone wanted to know.

"What the hell was in that photo?"

Willow picked the folder up, which Buffy had dropped in her rage. After making sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, she showed Faith.

Faith's looked closer at the pictures in the folder and then nodded in understanding.

"Yup. That explains the crazy."

OXOXOX

Buffy had sped down the street until she had reached the first set of traffic lights which were red.

This gave her time to think, which she wasn't in the mood for. She just bolted. Just leaving a mess in the middle of the street for everyone else to clean up was something Faith would do.

"Green the light!" Buffy hissed at the heavens, fighting back the tears as she did.

Looking left and right, she calculated the chances of getting T-boned by a long nose juggernaut. She figured it was unlikely since there wasn't any traffic to speak of.

Just as she was about to speed forwards, the passenger door opened and Spike hopped in.

"Going my way, luv?" Spike asked as suavely as he could with a shiner on his right eye.

"Get out."

"Aww, don't be like that." Spike smirked then frowned when he saw that she was crying, "You crying?"

"Get out now!"

Spike frowned then noted "The light's green."

Ignoring him as best she could, Buffy kicked the acceleration and they sped forwards.

As Spike got pressed into his seat, he laughed, "Hey. You're good at this driving thing. What's going on?"

Buffy threw the crumpled photograph in her hands at him.

Spike unfolded it and tilted his head in confusion.

"Okay, the guy is Angel and the girl is…"

Spike squinted and decided it was no mistake. It was Dawn's face in the photograph.

They were covered in white soot and blanketed in a bright search light but it looked so much like them.

"But this is impossible. Dawn is kind of .. not alive." Spike told Buffy, "I've been looking after her grave for a while now. She hasn't risen. I'd know. Buffy, this can't be her."

"What? Why would you do that?" Buffy asked Spike, "Guard her grave?"

"Just making sure no one digs it up and makes a zombie out of her. So many unsavouries in Sunnydale you know. The first month is always the most risky but generally speaking, after a that most necromancers will overlook a body."

"No, I mean, why would you care what happens to her?"

"She was my friend." Spike said as if it was obvious, "Dopey bit looked up to me. Even kept Faith from beating me a few times. It's a rare thing for people like me, someone who actually cares about you."

Everyone was walking on eggshells when it came to talking to Buffy about Dawn but Spike knew now wasn't the time for subtly.

"Buffy. I don't want to raise your hopes on this. Looks like someone's sent you on a wild goose chase. Dawn's dead as a door nail."

"She looks awfully peppy for someone who's supposed to be dead." Buffy shot back.

Spike frowned, giving the photo another look, "Pasty actually. Could be the lighting."

"Get out or just shut up."

"Fine. I'll shut up."

Buffy growled as she turned the car onto the motorway, "You're still talking."

"Am I?"

"Do me a favor. Get me the stake out of the glove box, would you?" Buffy politely asked.

"Oh no. I'm not falling for that one again." Spike laughed.

OXOXOX

Somewhere near the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles.

Dawn's window shopping spree took her and Orianna through most of Dawn's usual haunts for clothes. Orianna was particularly impressed with Bateman brothers & co, the guns, knife and taxidermy store. She never would've thought about shopping for clothes there but then Dawn had a vastly different mindset when it came to these things. It was interesting but she knew that the taxidermy section would be giving her nightmares for a week.

Right now, they weren't looking clothes. They were taking the scenic route back to found boys, drinking cheap hot chocolate from polystyrene cups as they did.

Dawn frowned at her chocolate, "I hate these little marshmallow cubes they use. My mom uses the big sticky marshmallow for me… I mean, my mom used to. She doesn't anymore."

Orianna squinted at Dawn, "Was it a vampire?"

"Nah. Nothing like that."

"Bad daddy?"

Dawn snorted, "No, definitely nothing like that."

"You can talk about it if you want."

"Maybe later."

Orianna sighed, "Look girl. You know that everyone in the boys is running from something."

"Yeah? so?" Dawn asked, pretending not to care.

"Well, you keep running and you run out of breath and burn out. Sometimes you have to look at the bad guys head on. Gotta find yourself, you know? That's what the found boys are all about. Finding yourself."

"And here I was thinking it was about vampire slaying."

Orianna smirked, "Girl. No one's a found boy forever and none of us are found twenty-four seven. You've got to get a life sometime."

"I'm young still." Dawn said with a shrug and then tensed up and stopped walking.

After a few steps, Orianna stopped too and asked "What is it?"

"Did.. Did you just hear something?"

Orianna and Dawn listened to the sounds of the city and a blood curdling scream cut through the sounds of normal city traffic.

"Oh crap." Orianna hissed as Dawn headed off in the direction of the scream. Not wanting to abandon her sometime friend, she followed.

After a few turns through the backstreets, Dawn came to a stop and so Orianna did too. What they saw even shocked Dawn. Across Hollywood boulevard, there were two vampires feeding on the store clerks to a fashion boutique.

"Omigod." Orianna yelled, "They're feeding on main street?"

Dawn looked left and right and saw that a large portion of Hollywood boulevard was cordoned off by police. Something seriously bad was going on.

Dawn squinted her eyes and studied the vampires.

"We've got to stop them." Orianna said out loud but Dawn stopped her from moving forward so she asked "What are you doing?"

"I know one of the vampires." Dawn told her, "We can't fight them."

"What do you mean? I don't care if you know them. I'm going to stake them. Give me a stake. You've got one in your back, don't you?"

Losing her cool, Dawn pushed Orianna up against the wall and growled, "Listen to me! She's a master vampire about two hundred years old. You go up against her and she'll just laugh. You're no fighter. So you'll do what I tell you. Go phone Angel. Go tell him that Drusilla is in town. That's who the vampire is. Drusilla. You got that?"

Orianna nodded and asked "What will you be doing?"

"I'm going to stall them as long as I can."

"Whoa there. You just said it yourself. You'll just get yourself killed!"

Dawn looked at them sternly and said "You think I want this? Trust me, I don't. Now go get Angel. He'll know her better than anyone else I know. He's our best chance here."

"Don't do anything stupid." she said, running off to find a phonebox.

Dawn watched her go and sighed, "Here I go do something stupid."

Rummaging through the backpack, she quickly took out two stakes and two cross necklaces. She wrapped the crosses around her hands to make a type of holy brass knuckles and held a stake in each hand.

She made a mental note to look for out for good single-handed crossbow in the future. Dawn wasn't really sure about Drusilla's fighting prowess but she didn't come off as the arrow-catching type so a crossbow would be ideal right about now.

After clearing her mind from thoughts of shopping, she dropped her backpack to the side and stormed towards the store.

Drusilla and Darla saw her before she made it inside. Drusilla smiled warmly in welcome while Darla finished the clerk she was feeding on.

Going for the unknown element first, Dawn targeted Darla. She rushed the last few feet to the store and dashed through the glass, straight through the window display.

Before Dawn could even come within striking distance, Darla tossed the drained body at Dawn and they thumped together.

Getting back up quickly, Dawn drove on the attack and got kicked in the head by Darla for her effort, knocking her down to the floor again.

Thinking Dawn was dazed by now, Darla moved forward to press on her attack and Dawn lashed out at the last second with both stakes. Darla dodged just in time but the stomach of her dress wasn't so lucky and was awarded a nice horizontal tear.

Darla stepped backwards and studied Dawn as she got up.

"What are you?" Darla asked, "You're not human. Why do you fight us?"

"She's the slayer's sister." Drusilla reminded Darla, "But she's not. She's a shiny green spider. So strange. Turning her back on our good works. No curds and whey for you."

Ignoring Drusilla, Dawn attacked Darla again, this time more cautiously and less open to attack. Sadly, this made her more open to Drusilla who hit her in the back with, of all things, an empty clothes rack.

As Dawn cried out in pain from that, Darla came in with a vicious uppercut which bounced Dawn off the ceiling.

Struggling to get back up, Darla kicked her in the head, knocking her back down. Before Dawn could try getting up again, Darla brought her high heels down on one of her hands and crushed the stake held by it and a few of the bones in her hand too.

Dawn cried out, slashing fruitless with her other hand which Darla caught in her hands. Pulling Dawn up by her hand, she pulled the stake out of it and shook the cross necklace off it too. As she did this, Drusilla grabbed the other hand and pulled as if playing tug-of-war with Darla.

"Hey Drusilla." Darla laughed while Dawn cried, "Remember St Petersburg?"

Drusilla grinned mischievously and then they both threw Dawn through the last remaining store window, out and into the street.

Dawn landed in the backseat of a vintage convertible with jagged pieces of store window stabbing painfully into her back. Before Dawn could think about removing the glass, the two vampires had jumped out to the street and loomed over her.

Before the terror could really set in, they were clawing her clothes off, clawing her skin off.

"Help!" she shrieked, still able to see the police red and blue flashing in the distance, "Help me! Someone! Helpag!"

Dawn's cries for help gurgled off as Drusilla bit into her throat, chewing out her voice box out.

OXOXOX

Less than five minutes later, Angel was driving his Plymouth Belvedere down the road. Totally ignoring the tape stretched across the street and the cop parked on the side, he pac-manned into the relatively empty streets of ground zero.

The area smelled ripe with spilt blood and sure enough, he didn't have to drive far to find them. The cordoned off massacre really didn't take that up that much of the city as far as cars drove.

They were feeding on someone in the wide back of a happy days era convertible. When Angel drifted his car to a stop, they stopped and backed off, out of the car.

Angel's first move was to shoot a crossbow. The bolt was grabbed by Drusilla before it reached Darla. Dropping the crossbow in the back seat, he jumped out of his car without bothering to open the door, stake in hand.

"I'm sorry, Darla." Angel said somberly.

"Why?" Darla asked, covered in more blood than she usually would be after a massacre, "I'm not."

In a flash, at speeds which the average human wouldn't be able to comprehend, Darla and Angel clashed together at suicidal speeds. Darla actually won the chicken match, bringing an elbow into Angel's face. As he fell back, she kicked him in the nuts. Making him fall to his knees as the pain overrode his control over his legs.

Not out of the fight yet, he gave her a vicious abortion punch to the stomach with his stake, seeing as she would be guarded against a straight heart shot.

Darla staggered back, yelping and holding her hands to her abdomen, making sure her insides stayed on the inside.

Then Drusilla came in with a long shiny bumper which she had pulled off a car. Angel blocked her attack and the bumper crinkled. His leather duster helped stop any cutting power the metal edge would have but as Drusilla kept up the attack, Angel realized there wasn't much he could do but take the battering.

Then Drusilla started kicking him the back and the fight went from distracting to downright maiming.

After her first kick, Angel twisted and tried to catch her Darla's next attack. Then Drusilla clipped him on the back of the head, drawing blood from his scalp and making him wince.

Instead of attacking, Darla decided to just stand and laugh at the image of Drusilla torturing Angel with a piece of automobile. Right about now, Angel wished he had listened to Wesley's warning about taking on two well-fed masters alone. He could almost hear Wesley's precise words after the beating Wolfram & Hart had given him that very morning when they turned Darla.

Some back up would be really useful right about now.

As if reading his mind, a crossbow bolt lodged into Darla's shoulder, knocking her over.

All three vampires stopped what they were doing and stared at the gang of street kids that had apparently came out of nowhere. They were all wielding weapons and Angel noticed that they had knocked out the corrupt policemen on their way in. He hoped they hadn't killed them but he wasn't really that concerned.

"You-You shot me!" Darla yelled, getting up and finding the crossbow bolt firmly rooted in her shoulder.

"Yea-up!" Rhondell yelled back at her as the guy next to him reloaded their crossbow, "We do that."

"Mommy." Drusilla said worriedly, dropping the bent piece of aluminum in her hands, "We're late for a very important date."

Darla nodded, kicked Angel in the head then joined the crazy loon in hightailing it out of there.

Angel groaned as he got up, dizzy and tired from current events and faced the found boys.

"Um, thanks." Angel said, a bit unsure how to go about talking to them, "Is Gunn with you?"

"Nah." Rhondell told Angel, "I thought he was with you."

Angel frowned and Orianna stepped up, trying not to get too close to the vampire.

"Where's Lucy?" she asked, a bit hysterical, "She-she was supposed to wait for us here."

Angel frowned deeper and then turned when he heard a slight scraping noise.

He turned towards the sound, towards the car which Dawn was thrown into.

The door creaked open to show a grisly blood covered Dawn, her flesh torn off in places. She reached out with a quivering, weak hand with broken fingers.

While the others were in shock at what happened to her, Angel reacted quickly.

"Don't move." Angel told her, as he took off his duster and used it as a make-shift blanket to wrap her in.

By the sheer amount of damage and by the fact that she's not only alive but conscious, one of the found boys stated "She's a demon!"

"Yes. She is." Angel replied dismissively, "And she needs help. I'll get her it."

He placed her down into his back seat and drove off in his car, leaving the found boys in his dust before they brought up any objections to helping a demon. He just didn't need that right now.

"That's all kinds of fucked up!" Darwin suddenly said out loud, taking a little longer than the others to process this new information.

OXOXOX

Angel came back to the Hyperion to find the rest of Angel investigations waiting for him.

"She needs a doctor bad." Angel told his crew, "A demon doctor."

"I think she needs a mortician." Gunn corrected him, "Angel, she's dead."

Angel shook his head, "She's not. Her heart's still beating. Very weakly, which is why we need a doctor who knows how to help her."

Cordelia grimaced at Dawn then her eye's widened, "Is that Dawn?"

"Yes." Angel told Cordelia as she laid Dawn gently down on sofa, "Wesley. You know a doctor who treats demons in Chinatown, don't you? Does he do house calls?"

"What happened to her?" Gunn asked.

"Darla happened." Angel told him as Wesley looked up a number in the filofax by the phone.

"She's so young." Gunn noted with distaste.

"I don't think there's any age where this would be easy." Angel said back, "Wesley!"

"It's ringing!" Wesley called back.

Angel didn't want to think about what Darla and Drusilla could do to a fifteen year old girl in fifteen whole minutes. It brought back too many old memories. They probably used some of his old techniques too. He learnt so many during the Spanish inquisition.

"Uh, guys." Cordelia said, looking away from Dawn and holding her hand to her mouth to stop herself from gagging, "I don't mean to sound mean here but Dawn should be dead."

"Dawn?" Gunn asked, "You mean that girl that died? Damn. I didn't recognize her with all the blood."

Cordelia shook her head, "No. I mean she's got no bits."

"No bits?" Gunn asked, walking over to where Dawn was to get a better look. Then decided that wasn't a good idea and turned away.

"Oh man. That's not right." Gunn said to Angel "She's been disemboweled, man. She's got no throat. What's keeping her alive?"

"That's a good question." came from Rhondell as he and a good portion of the found boys walked in to the foyer and he approached Angel and asked him harshly "A better question is why is Lucy a demon, man! What do you know about this?"

"Why did they just call her Lucy?" Cordelia asked then gasped, "She's Lucy! Angel! You should've just told us!"

"It wasn't the time." Angel told Cordelia, "And uh.."

"Rhondell." Gunn prompted Angel.

Angel frowned and continued with what he was saying, "Yes, Rhondell, it was a surprise to me when I found out she was a demon but I trust her."

"And that means anything coming from you?" Rhondell asked bitterly.

"Hey!" Cordelia came in to defend Angel, "You don't get to come in here and tell us anything. I don't care if Dawn's a demon. I trust her too."

Rhondell looked at her confused, "Who the hell is Dawn?"

"She's Dawn." Cordelia told him like he was stupid, "Dawn, Lucy, they're the same person. I don't know why she's calling herself Lucy. I didn't know she was a demon either. Angel! I can't believe you didn't tell us about this. We thought she was dead."

Suddenly the two front doors broke inwards, sending glass and door frame flying everywhere. Both the found boys and Angel investigation went on the defensive.

"Someone has been a bad bad man." Spike called out in his best goodie-too-shoes imitation as he walked haughtily through the doors he just kicked in, "And I'm here to put a stop to .. Dawn?"

Behind him, Buffy echoed "Dawn."

Buffy ran towards Buffy and the found boys stopped her, pointing pointy sticks towards her.

"And just who the hell are you?" one of the found boys said to Buffy.

"I'm her SISTER!" Buffy yelled back and pushed the weapons aside, pushing herself through the small crowd without much resistance then knelt down and frantically held Dawn, "Oh god. Dawn. What happened?"

The fire in Dawn's eyes was gone and nothing filled the void where it lived. Dawn closed her eyes and turned away from Buffy, ashamed and humiliated of what she had become.

"Buffy! She's hurt!" Angel yelled, pulling the Slayer off her sister.

Buffy let go of her sister and staring at the blood on her hands then glared at Angel, "I can't believe you! You met with me after my her funeral like everything was normal. My sister's alive and you didn't tell me! Now she's dying! AGAIN!"

"I didn't know she was alive then." Angel explained.

"Bloody hell, Angelus!" Spike swore, not believing what he was seeing, "Why would you keep this from us?"

Angel growled openly, "Spike! Leave! NOW!"

"What did you do to her, you bastard?" Spike yelled, walloping Angel right across the temple, knocking him to the floor.

Angel shook his confused, dazed head. At first he wondered at why Spike was angry because something had happened to Dawn and then he just figured out that this situation was just a reason for Spike to hit him.

"Spike!" Angel growled again, "This is not the time."

"The hell it isn't!" Spike yelled back with his game face back on.

"SPIKE!" Buffy shrieked and the vampire stopped, "Shut up and sit down."

"Look what he did!" Spike yelled back.

"I didn't do this!" Angel yelled at Spike, "It was Darla."

This stopped Spike who said "You can't blame this on a ghost."

"She's alive again." Angel told Spike as he got up off the floor, "Wolfram and Hart brought her back from the dead then had Drusilla turn her back into a vampire."

"Whoa there." Buffy told Angel, "You mean your sire? THAT Darla? The one that went John Wu on us?"

"Yes. Her." Angel growled, "She just got turned a couple of hours back."

Rhondell looked to his boys and nudged with his head, directing them to leave. He wasn't understanding half of what was going on here so he decided that he should just stick to what he did know. All he knew was there were two vampires leaving a bloody trail through LA so he figured it was best to play his strengths and focus on that. Hopefully Dawn would be alive later so he could figure out whether or not to kill her.

"Doesn't anyone just stay dead when you kill them?" Spike asked, still with his vampire face on then looked guiltily at Dawn, "I didn't mean it like that, bit."

Dawn didn't seem to be notice him. Her mind had obviously gone to some other place.

Buffy took in a deep breath then let it out, trying to clear her head from the noise inside it.

"We need to help Dawn." Buffy stated as fact.

"There's a doctor coming." Wesley told her, "A herbalist who specializes in demon injuries and medicine. He's not unused to calls in the middle of the night but it would help if we told him what type of demon she is when he gets here."

"Demon?" Buffy asked, looking at Wesley confused.

"Buffy." Angel asked for Buffy's attention, "Dawn, she's now a .. She's whatever that demon called Tell was."

Buffy blinked, "Tell? What does he have to do with this?"

Angel frowned, "Tell wasn't the Seeker. Tell killed the Seeker but not after he stabbed Dawn. When Dawn was dying she somehow merged with Tell. Dawn is whatever Tell was."

"An Echo." Buffy said quietly, "Oh god."

"Tell was a demon?" Cordelia asked, "How come no one told me? And what's an echo?"

"Is Tell still in there?" Spike asked Angel who nodded.

Buffy added another "Oh god" on top of her last one.

"Tell was an Echo." Wesley explained to Cordelia, "It's a type of demon I'm not familiar with."

"Well, one good thing about this." Spike told everyone, "She doesn't need a doctor anymore."

"Why not?" Angel asked Spike angrily.

"Because she can only be killed with magic. She'll heal on her own." Spike explained, "Say, what are you doing here anyway? Why aren't you out killing Darla?"

Angel blinked at Spike, "What!"

"No one does this to Dawn and gets away with it." Spike shot back at him, "Stay here if you want, I'm going to go kill the harlot."

Angel mouth fell open and he turned to the others and asked them "Did Spike get a soul and no one thought to tell me?"

Spike laughed dryly at the other vampire, "You sap. I'm not stupid enough to fall for getting a soul. Dawn's just my friend. No one touches her. No one!"

Buffy was looking at Spike a bit oddly now, "Spike. Shut up. You're freaking us out."

Spike harrumphed disgruntledly at Buffy but said nothing more.

"The meat popsicle has a point." Gunn admitted, "Since Dawn doesn't really need our help, we should be out there killing the two psychos who did this to her."

"Then let's do that." Angel agreed with Gunn.

"Dawn." Buffy said softly, "I.. I'll be back and we'll talk. Okay?"

Dawn weakly pressed herself away from Buffy as if trying to get away from her and Buffy moved back, not seeing her sister in the body before her.

Buffy turned to Cordelia and asked "Could you.."

"Clean her up?" Cordelia asked with a smile, "I'm on it. Go save some lives."

Buffy, Gunn, Spike and Angel left quickly, leaving Dawn alone with Cordelia and Wesley.

Cordelia gently picked up Dawn and took her into the back office, away from anyone who might be scared off by a bloody girl with bits torn out of her.

Seeing nowhere else to put her, she placed Dawn on the desk and Angel's duster opened up, revealing more Dawn than Cordelia ever wanted to see. The only clothing she still had on were her boots which weren't going to come off without some serious unlacing or a bone saw. She quickly folded the duster back over Dawn's more private parts before Wesley came in with a first aid box.

"I'll handle this." Cordelia told Wesley who nodded in understanding, closing the door behind him to leave Cordelia and Dawn in peace.

Unfolding the duster, Cordelia went to cleaning the wounds before bandaging them. She flinched when she thought she saw something move under Dawn's skin. After a beat, she ignored what she saw then went back to cleaning. After swabbing a few of the larger wounds she decided that wasn't going to get her anywhere so she moved onto bandaging, deciding that if Dawn couldn't die from physical harm then antiseptic was redundant.

She wrapped thick gauze around Dawn's abdomen a few times, barely covering the gaping hole the gruesome twosome had made to remove her insides. After she tied it off she turned away from Dawn and forced herself not to throw up.

Closing her eyes and breathing in through her mouth, she suppressed the gag reflex until she had her body's instincts back under control.

When she turned around, Dawn was there, standing up in front of, naked except for the bandage her around her waist and the boots on her feet.

Despite the fact that she was now standing, Cordelia was more scared of the fact that Dawn's eyeballs had turned into two red featureless balls.

"I-I think you should lay down." Cordelia said, a bit unsure on how to proceed.

Dawn kept looking at Cordelia as something that looked like worms crawled under her skin, making squishy noises as they passed through exposed flesh.

Cordelia gulped and said "You're not the only demon I know. Like there's this one guy called Lorne. You know him? He's great. He likes karaoke."

Dawn stepped closer to Cordelia and rasped "Don't try to relate to me."

"I just want to help you. We all do. You're wounded. Do you want to eat something? I could get you something. We keep snacks in the fridge."

"Why would I eat?" Dawn asked with her teeth bared, "I don't have a stomach right now."

"Uh, right. Maybe there is something else. You look tired. We've got some beds."

Dawn tilted her head as if studying Cordelia and said "There is one thing I want from you."

"What?"

Cordelia gasped as Dawn undid her belt, totally not wanting to get pushed into sex by Buffy's gore-covered demon sister.

"Uh. Dawn…" Cordelia said, trying to think up some kind words that also told Dawn that she really wanted to keep her pants on, "I want to keep my pants on."

Dawn ignored her and took her belt. She used Cordelia's belt to tie Angel's duster around her waist to keep it close. Then she turned and left the room. Wesley yelped in surprise as she come into the lobby and went straight for the weapon locker. It was still open from the last few people who acquired weapons from it so Dawn had no problem taking the short Japanese tachi sword and the small hand crossbow out.

"Dawn. What are you doing?" Wesley asked worriedly and Dawn ignored him instead deciding to walk out the broken front doors into the night.

"Well. That was weird." Cordelia said in her usual shallowness, "LA weird even."

"Don't you think we should go after her?" Wesley asked Cordelia.

Cordelia blinked at him, "Did you see her eyes? She's got big angry demon eyes. I'm not going anywhere near that."

OXOXOX

Less than an hour later and Dawn had found a lead on the newly risen Darla. She had found her way to an underground demon fight club. It'd be full of demons, vampires and almost all of those were fighters.

The funny thing was that Dawn had really considered blowing up the whole place in the past but that had been problematic. Some demons can recognize the smell of explosives, even plastiques This would also include some vampires with the right military backgrounds. Dawn came up against the same problem with starting a gas leak too. But that could be beneficial for a plan of mass demon slaughter. She could start a gas leak and set up an ambush at the entrance with the found boys. The problem was that she couldn't just walk into a den of demons, spring a gas leak and then have the found boys mow them down when they run outside because that would raise suspicions on why the demons didn't attack Dawn at the entrance. But now, she didn't have the found boys and she didn't really care about most of the demons inside.

Being that she was a demon meant that she would be able to mingle without too much problem as long as no one recognized her.

She just wanted two vampires and in a place like this, she could probably get away with staking them and then just ordering a round of drinks.

Since leaving the hotel, Dawn had acquired some ratty brown pants and a blank mauve t-shirt so she was no longer naked under Angel's duster. She had also whittled two stakes. They were back up weapons in the case of losing her tachi during the upcoming fight. While short swords weren't the best tool for vampires, she figured out that to take down these two she would need to bleed them a little first, possibly with a little maiming too. Truth be told, she was looking forward to it.

They had ruined everything. Now the found boys knew what she was. Now Buffy knew she was alive. Now she couldn't stay in LA.

She approached the thick metal door to the club and stopped herself a second before knocking. It was open an inch.

Sensing something wasn't quite right, she took out the tachi used it's reflective surface as a mirror to look inside the door. On the floor on the inside were two burly demons. By the pools of blood they were lying in, they were either dead or sleeping very deeply. Seeing as there were no explosives attached to the inside of the door, she took the tachi back out and opened the door.

On the inside, she looked around to make sure there weren't any vampires waiting to pounce on her, taking special note of the roof which was a favorite pouncing position of some vampires.

She was beginning to think this was some sort of trap until she heard something howl. No, not something but someone. Someone human. Not only that but someone she knew.

Forgetting stealth she ran along the dark concrete corridor and kicked in the double doors into the demon clubhouse. The doors swung open and Dawn ran through, totally taken by surprise what she saw on the other side.

A bunch of found boys were laughing there ass off as they were using super-soakers to squirt petrol on a pile of dead demons. The room looked to be the leftovers of a major battle. Also in the room were Angel, Buffy, Spike and Gunn. Almost all of them now realized Dawn was in the room.

Rhondell laughed out loud, catching Dawn's attention.

"You came to kill them by yourself? Again?" He asked, "I'll be damned if you aint the craziest bitch I know."

"Hey!" Buffy yelled at him, "That's my sister!"

Rhondell gave her a weird look, "You're gonna say that's not crazy?"

"Rhondell." Gunn said in a way that implied "Shut your mouth, you fool! We're having family time here."

Buffy tried to approach Dawn and Dawn flinched back, her sword ready in front of her.

Buffy held her hands up but wasn't really worried about being attacked.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Buffy told her, "Dawn. I'm Buffy. You remember me, don't you?"

Dawn looked down at the tachi and dropped it, not wanting to threaten Buffy with it.

Rhondell was tired of being quiet so he asked "Lucy, what's up? I've talked with your sister and it's like you've got a family. A mom and everything. What are you doing here?"

Dawn looked at him blankly but didn't say anything.

Rhondell frowned, not getting this sort of response from Dawn before and he said "Don't take me wrong. You didn't have to join us but you did and that deserves respect. But it's like they say, no one's a found boy forever. You've got people who love you, why run from that?"

Buffy crept closer to Dawn and said "Dawn, let's go home. Please."

Dawn did an about-face and ran from the room, surprising Buffy who quickly ran after her.

"Dawn!" Buffy called down the corridor but Dawn was deaf to her pleas. As Dawn ran she pulled out the readied crossbow from her pocket at fired it forward. The bolt flew forwards and hit the large metal door to apparently no effect at all. Behind her, Buffy was catching up fast.

When Dawn reached the door, she pulled on it, slammed it closed and kept running down the street. When Buffy reached the door, she turned the handle and it snapped off. After blinking at the useless piece of metal in her hands for a second, she looked at the door and tried pulling it back open. Then she tried kicking it open.

Despite her slayer strength, it wouldn't budge.

She screamed and assaulted the door, putting no more than wrinkles in its surface. It was obviously made to withstand enraged demons.

Still angry, she punched the solid concrete wall next to it and her fist smashed straight through it. Grunting with effort, she reached her hand around the door through the wall and pulled. Slowly, cracks crept along the concrete around the door and then the whole door fell through and Buffy tossed it aside.

"Dawn!" She yelled as she ran out into the street, her throat hoarse, "Come back!"

Angel came up behind her and sniffed the air. Once he did, he put a hand on Buffy's shoulder and said "I know where she's going."

OXOXOX

Caritas.

Angel, Buffy and Gunn walked down the steps to Caritas. They left the found boys behind considering what happened the last time they visited.

"Well hello there." Lorne said as he saw Buffy, "And just who is this higher being that brightens my day?"

"The Slayer." Buffy said sharply.

Lorne gave Angel a wide smile, "You've been holding out on us, Angel. You should've told me how cute she is."

Buffy raised an eyebrow at Angel, "And we're here why?"

"Dawn came here." Angel explained.

Buffy looked the room over and asked "And why would she do that?.. Oh my god. Is that demon singing Garth Brooks?"

Lorne coughed and nodded, "You're lucky you're not picking up the ultrasonic part of that platitude. It's really grating my ear off. Poor guy doesn't even know he's deafening every bat for a five block radius."

Buffy blinked at the anagogic demon and asked Angel again "And why would Dawn came here?"

"Lorne can see your destiny if you sing for him." Angel explained, "But she couldn't have sung already. There wasn't time. Lorne. Did you see a young girl in here? About this tall, long brown hair, wearing my jacket?"

Lorne nodded, "Cutest little thing. Smelled like death though."

"What did she do?" Angel asked, "Did she ask you for some info?"

Lorne sighed, "Angel-cakes. I have a strict code of confidentiality. You know that already."

"Lorne. We really need to know." Angel said emphatically.

"Sorry pudding but I don't interfere in other peoples business. I'm just a guide. She came, I guided. That's all that happened."

"Where did you guide her?" Buffy asked angrily, "And if you don't tell me, I'll just beat it out of you."

"I'm still staying shut." said Lorne then frowned in confusion, "And yet that's an attractive offer coming from you. Strange. I haven't noticed my having any masochistic daydreams before."

Angel held Buffy back before she did something she regretted.

"Buffy." He said quickly, calming her, "This whole room is under a sanctuary spell. If you try to hurt someone, you just hurt yourself."

Buffy pouted, "That's.. just not fair. How am I supposed to beat information out of demons if I can't beat them?"

Lorne shrugged, "Hey. Tell you what. Why don't you sing for me and maybe I'll guide you too?"

Instead of answering him, Buffy stared at Lorne, giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

"Stop that." Lorne said, becoming creeped out, "I'm serious. Stop that this instant."

Buffy kept up the pitiful look and to Angel's disbelief, the demon cracked.

"OKAY!" Lorne yelled, not caring if the whole room heard. Then he wrote something down on a napkin and handed it to her, "Here's the address to Cyvus Vale. He specialized in illusions. She asked for someone talented in removing powerful illusions and he's the only one I knew who fit the bill. He's rich so expect guards. Try not to kill too many of them please. It's the last thing I need."

"Thanks." Buffy said with a giggle and moved to leave.

"Okay. I'm confused." Gunn said as the trio left, "Slayers have mind control powers?"

Angel shrugged, "I thought her puppy dog eyes only worked on me."

Buffy frowned and stopped mid-step on the staircase, "Hold on. Lifting illusions? But why would she want that?"

Angel's guilty look caught Buffy's attention and she asked "What?"

"Uh. Buffy. Dawn… Dawn is an illusion."

"What?" Buffy asked.

Angel sighed, "Dawn is an illusion. The key, it wasn't something that was given to her or something that she was born with. She was just the key until some monks decided to create the illusion that she was your sister."

Buffy blinked, "You're saying Dawn isn't my sister?"

Angel nodded, "Until the monks cast that illusion, she wasn't even Dawn."

Buffy paused and thought about this, "So you're saying that she's.. going to kill the part of her that is Dawn?"

Angel paused and thought about this for a second too, "I guess you could put it that way."

"We've got to stop her!" said Buffy and ran up the stairs, followed by a confused Angel and an even more confused Gunn.

OXOXOX

Across town, a few minutes later. Dawn had found her way to the mansion of the warlock. He was old, had dark red skin and a few thin wisps of white hair on top of his head. His aged status was accentuated by the fact that he was trundling around oxygen tanks which were hooked up into his nose via tubes.

The warlock placed an old hardened guano bowl down on the table and Dawn stood forwards with a small sharp sacrificial athame the warlock owned. Using the knife, Dawn cut deeply into her wrist and squeezed some blood out by clenching her fist. Not a lot came out as she had recently lost so much.

"Is that enough?" Dawn asked, gritting her teeth with the effort of speech.

"We shall see, shall we not?" the warlock wheezed with a twisted smile.

There was a crash outside, followed by a yelp.

"Hmm." said the warlock as if people breaking into his estate was nothing to concern himself with, "Did you bring any friends with you?"

Dawn sighed, "I'll handle it. Get on with the spell."

Dawn walked purposely towards the front door and opened it up and walked through only to come face to face with Buffy. Both were shocked, not entirely expecting this.

They stood like that for a second until Buffy softly said "Dawn."

Dawn pushed Buffy back with both hands and a shout. By the force of the push, Buffy was flung back, rolling down the hard concrete stairs up to the mansion. As she hit the bottom she groaned and picked herself up.

"Dawn." Buffy said again, as if calling her would make Dawn act the way she wanted.

"Dawn's dead." Dawn hissed, "I'm not your sister. I never was."

"Dawn. Don't do this." Buffy pleaded. Obviously Buffy was running on fumes, both emotionally and physically. The fall down the stairs wouldn't normally take so much out of her but now she had a limp.

"I'm doing this for you too. Don't you see that?" Dawn asked, "Why don't you want your memories returned back to normal?"

"Because you're my sister. I love you." Buffy cried, "I hate this. Everyone is always leaving. Everyone is always doing what is best but it just hurts! How come no one can just do what they want for once?"

"You think this is all about you? It's not! How would you think Joyce would feel about me now? Now that I'm a demon! Mom doesn't need to know what I've become."

"Ha!" Buffy yelled triumphantly, "You called her Mom. See, we're still family."

"Sixteen years being you sister are nothing when stacked against the thousands I've spent as a demon. NOTHING! Don't you get that? I don't love you, Buffy. I can't love you."

"The only thing that matters is what is happening now." Buffy almost whispered, "Just go with that feeling."

"I don't love you."

"Just take my hand. Just come home." Buffy pleaded, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Dawn shook her head and looked back at the house, "It's too late. I'm sorry. The spell is already starting. I can feel it. The truth will be shown and it'll be okay, Buffy. It'll all be okay. We won't hurt anymore."

Buffy and Dawn stood like that, just looking at each other. Knowing that this was the last time they would be sisters. Dawn couldn't keep up the pretence any longer and cried.

"I'm sorry." Dawn mumbled, "Buffy. I'm so sorry for hurting you."

Then their eyes glowed white and they fell to the ground in pain as if something had taken a bite out of their souls. After a few seconds like that, Buffy got back up slowly and held her head as everything seemed a bit hazy. She actually did feel better though, like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

Dawn was another matter altogether.

"N-NO!" Dawn cried out in frustration, "No! It's over! I'm not supposed to still feel like this. Buffy's not my sister. She's not my sister!"

Buffy looked at Dawn as she worked out what was what in her head. Dawn was thrust into their lives like an invader. Their memories were deviously twisted around her to fit some purpose. Buffy could still remember those memories but they were like those of a dream, fleeting and easily disregarded when faced with the cold truth of day.

But it wasn't all a lie.

After Dawn broke her way into Buffy's life, in between the incessant sibling feuding and constant disregard of each other, there were moments of actual warmth and caring. They were just snapshots in their lives, barely glimpses of contentment but for Buffy it supported what she knew was true, that Dawn was part of her and she was part of Dawn.

They were family.

Dawn didn't bother getting up, she just hung her head so her long hair covered her face and sobbed. Buffy crouched down and held her. Not expecting this, Dawn raised her head and looked at Buffy with lost eyes.

"I'm not your sister." Dawn groaned.

"I know." Buffy said with a sad smile, "You're the girl who steals my makeup."

Dawn struggled with the sadness inside and fought on a smile, "And you're the girl who saved my life."

They stayed like that until Angel and Gunn walked across the lawn and approached them. Obviously they had run out of demon guards to fight.

"What do we do now?" asked Dawn.

"Home." Buffy whispered, "We're going home."

OXOXOX

The ride back to Sunnydale was quiet. Despite Buffy's awkward attempts at conversation neither Spike nor Dawn were in a talking mood.

Buffy dropped Spike off at the Chase mansion first and then took Dawn along to the town hall. She found a quiet, empty office and had Dawn sit in it while she talked with the others in the emergency Scooby meeting she had set up on her cellphone on the way back from LA.

As Buffy entered Xander's office, the rest of the Scoobies looked back at her. Her friends looked almost as bad as she felt.

"Buffy." Giles said in greeting.

Buffy looked him in the eyes then noticed that there was a stargate soldier in the room too so she asked them "What do you want?"

The soldier frowned, "I thought since this is an emergency meeting there might be an actual emergency."

"There isn't. This is personal." Buffy said coldly.

The soldier nodded and politely left, "Okay then. I'll leave you to it. Good night."

"Wait." Buffy told him before the soldier closed the door behind him, "Those NID guys. Did you get anything from them?"

The soldier opened the door slightly and shook his head, "Sorry. We're still investigating. I wouldn't hold my breath if I was you. NID operations are set up like terrorist cells. This means that one group won't be able to link back to any other group, even to their direct superiors."

Buffy frowned, "Well. That sucks. Umm. Thanks."

"No problem. Good night."

"Good night." Buffy said more politely to make up for her rudeness before.

With that, the soldier left and closed the door behind him.

"What happened?" Willow asked quickly, "How come something's making us forget Dawn?"

Buffy blinked, "Uh. Nothing is making you forget her."

"That's ridiculous." Xander told her, "Oh no. You've totally forgotten her, haven't you?"

"No!" Buffy yelled at him then calmed herself, "No. I haven't forgotten her. I … Guys. I have some things to tell you."

While everyone waited for the bomb to be dropped, Faith leaned over to Kennedy and said "If Buffy is evil, I'll hold her down while you beat her up."

Buffy didn't bother glaring at Faith, she was too tired. Instead she started listing the lurid details of her night in LA.

"Okay. First. Drusilla is dead."

"That's a good thing." Xander said quickly, "Go Buff."

Buffy frowned at him, "I didn't kill her. Uh, Spike did."

"Spike did?" Xander laughed, "Are you sure?"

Buffy nodded and Xander asked "Are you sure it wasn't some trick of the light?"

Buffy shook her head, "Stake in chest and exploding into dust is dead in my book."

"But why would Spike kill Drusilla?" Willow asked, "I thought he loved her and.. she's his sire. Vampires can't kill their sires, can they?"

"I killed mine." Harmony butted in and then when everyone looked at her she added, "I pushed him to some sunlight when he wanted me to… uh, let's just say he was a jerk."

"You're not exactly a normal vampire." Kennedy told Harmony who frowned so Kennedy added cheerfully, "You're special."

Harmony smiled hesitantly, not sure if Kennedy was patronizing her or not.

"Spike's in a bad place right now. He hasn't spoken much since he staked her." Buffy told everyone, "So for the next few days, could we treat him a bit nicer please? And by we, I mean Faith. So could you go easy on him."

Faith frowned but said "Sure thing."

"And Angel dusted Darla." Buffy added, "Again."

"Darla?" Giles asked, "I only know of one Darla, Angels Sire, and he killed her some years back."

Buffy nodded, "Yes. I'm talking about that Darla. She was resurrected. Talking of which, from now on, if we ever happen to kill a famous vampire, lets make sure we take their ash so that they can't be resurrected. Tonight's trip down memory lane has been murder."

"Whoa. Hang on." Faith interrupted Buffy, "You mean any vampire we've killed can just come back to life?"

Buffy nodded in a so-so way, "If you have the ash and some sacrificial vampires to raise them with then yes."

"W-what about Dawn?" Tara asked.

Buffy frowned, "This a little more complicated. Okay. First off, some of your memories of Dawn are fake."

"What do you mean fake?" Xander asked angrily.

"Precisely that. Fake." Buffy put bluntly, "We all remember Glory, don't we?"

"Who?" Kennedy asked.

"Crazy hellgod." Faith told her, "I'll fill you in later."

With that, Buffy continued, "Okay. Well, there were some monks in Italy or somewhere like that and they had this thing they called the Key. It was a big ball of energy which Glory could use to unlock a door to her homeworld, a hell dimension. Glory attacked the monks but before she could get her hands on the key, they literally created Dawn and made us all think that she was my little sister."

"They created her?" Anya asked, "Like a robot?"

Harmony frowned at Anya, "No. She'd be a golem, obviously. Monks don't know about technology… do they?"

"She's not a robot or a golem." Buffy told everyone, "I don't think. Aren't golems made out of clay?"

Willow nodded, "Usually. But what do you mean by created?"

Buffy shrugged, "Apparently they got a piece of me somehow, some of my blood or DNA or something and built her out of me."

"So you're saying she's your daughter?" Xander asked.

Buffy grimaced at him, "No. I am definitely not saying that."

"Then what are you saying?" Kennedy asked, "Because I'm confused. I thought she was just a girl."

"She is." Buffy said too quickly to stop herself then amended, "She was."

"I just figured it out." Willow said triumphantly, "We're suddenly all forgetting about Dawn, that's because Dawn's dead and the spell has started to dissolve. But then why didn't it just end when Dawn died."

"I don't get that." Kennedy told her, "Because my memories of Dawn haven't changed at all.'

"That's because you came to Sunnydale after Dawn was created." Buffy told her then turned to Willow, "And.. Dawn isn't dead."

Willow frowned, "Yeah, she is."

Buffy shook her head, "No. She's in the other room. I found her in LA."

The room went quiet and Faith was the one who asked "She's in the other room?"

Buffy nodded, "As I've said, this gets complicated. The day that Dawn, uh, died, um.. Tell saved her. Kind of."

"Tell?" Tara asked, "You mean.."

"Yes. That Tell." Buffy said grimly, "He wasn't the Seeker. He was trying to save Dawn from the Seeker. The story that Angel told me is that Tell killed the Seeker but Dawn died. When she died, something was released, some magic or her soul or something. Tell absorbed it and it became part of him. Dawn become part of him. They joined to become one person."

Buffy thought it would take some time for this bizarre idea settle down but Xander quickly asked "So Tell is in the other room and he's saying that he's your sister?"

Buffy shook her head, "No, it's more like Dawn is in the other room. She's got Tell's memories but still her own personality. She's the reason our memories of her have almost been forgotten. She's ashamed because now she's a demon and she didn't want any of us to feel bad for her so she destroyed the spell which the monks cast. She didn't count on the fact that she was with us for months and in that time we were her family and friends and we loved her and she loved us back."

"You want to have them stay in Sunnydale?" Tara asked, obviously not comfortable with the idea.

"Yes." Buffy said harshly back, making Tara flinch back, "Because for all the bad things Tell has done, Dawn is an innocent. She's got nowhere to go. We're the closest thing to loved ones that she has and I'll be damned if I'm going to turn my back on her when she needs us most."

No one argued with her, seeing as her mind was set on this course of action but there were a few questions.

"So she's Dawn but she's Tell too?" Kennedy asked.

Buffy nodded.

"So does she look like Dawn looked or does she look like Tell?" Harmony asked.

"Like Dawn." replied Dawn.

"Can we see her?" Xander asked.

Buffy frowned, "She's been through a lot today. I don't think she's in a talking mood. She's very skittish. Maybe tomorrow. We'll see."

Willow moved closer to Buffy and said "If Dawn knows everything Tell knew then I think there's something I should ask her."

"Like what?" Buffy asked.

Willow fidgeted a little before saying "It's personal. And it's important."

"Do you need to ask her right now?"

Willow frowned, "No. I guess not. But I'd like to."

Buffy sighed, "Fine. Um. Meeting over. Court adjourned. Go home. We can talk tomorrow. Is anyone else really tired?"

"I can go three days without sleep." Kennedy said haughtily.

"She was asking the normal people." Faith told Kennedy, "And most people don't complain if I can only go all night. Three days? What freaks do you know?"

Xander sighed, "Let's go home, people. I'm pooped. We can figure this out in the morning."

With nothing else too pressing to talk about, the Scoobies piled out of Xander's office and made their ways home, except for Tara, Willow and Buffy who waited by the room Dawn was in while the others walked on by.

After the others were out of sight, Buffy knocked on the door to where she left Dawn as if she was checking whether the toilet was occupied.

"Dawn?" Buffy called out, not getting a response. She opened the door and looked in, seeing Dawn look up from the desk at her.

"Willow wants to ask you something." Buffy said to Dawn, "Is that okay?"

"I guess."

Buffy took her head out of the doorway and turned back to Willow, "It's okay. Go in and ask her what you want."

Willow walked into the room and Buffy closed the door behind her. Once she looked at Dawn, Willow's eyes grew wide as she took in the changes. The mauve shirt she was wearing had patches of blood over it, her hair was a black tangled mess, her face still had claw marks on it from the vampire attack she had suffered and she was still bearing two rings on her bottom lip.

"Oh my god. Dawn! What happened to you."

"What do you want?" Dawn asked flatly.

Willow paused, trying to remember what she wanted to know. Then it clicked, "I wanted to ask you about Tara's Scythe."

"What about it?"

"Tell knew what it was, didn't he?"

Dawn shook her head, "I.. Tell didn't know. I don't know. I thought I did."

"The Nimrodim appendix says it's some sort of weapon from the same dimension Tell came from. A weapon forged by someone the book calls the dreamers."

"At first I thought it was made by the dreamers too but now I'm not so sure. I think it was just inspired by them. They did that a lot… Inspire."

"So you don't know what it is?" Willow asked with a sigh, "Why don't you think it was made by the dreamers? We used a scrying spell to detect those exact weapons."

"The Scythe has some similarities. If you're wondering whether it could kill me then I would have to say yes, it can. At its current power level, it might not be able to though."

Willow frowned, "Current power level? You mean it can get stronger."

Dawn nodded, "The dreamers constructed perhaps the most devastating handheld weapons I have ever seen. Whoever forged the Scythe followed in their footsteps. I believe it's much more dangerous than you could imagine."

"Why? What sort of power source does it have?"

"You don't even know that?" Dawn asked Willow, "Willow. The power source is Tara herself."

Willow looked at Dawn blankly, "And that's more dangerous than I could imagine? I don't think so. Unless there's something you're not telling me about Tara."

"You know those witches Buffy brought in to help with Tell?"

Willow nodded, "Yes. The Charmed ones."

Dawn blinked, "Those were the Charmed ones?"

"Uh, yeah. So?"

"Oh. Nothing. It's just I didn't know there was a new generation." Dawn explained, confusing Willow, "Anyway. Their powers, whatever they are, do you know what they're powered with?"

"Yeah. They're given them by the powers that be."

Dawn shook her head, "That's not what powers them."

Willow frowned, "You're saying that their magical abilities isn't powered by some exterior force but by themselves?"

Dawn nodded.

Willow shook her head, "No. It doesn't work like that, Dawn. Using one's own personal energy, you can only do small things like some light telekinesis or altered states of consciousness through meditation."

Dawn chuckled, "Is that what they're teaching in schools nowadays?"

"It's true. To do heavy telekinesis like say moving a vending machine, you need a partner or you need access to an exterior source."

"Well, of course. No man is an island. That goes double for witches. Humans absorb power from so many sources. From the air they breathe, from the food they eat and a few mystical sources which I'm still a fuzzy on. It's something like the force... on star wars. But my point is, everyone has power within them, they just don't have the outlet for it. As you practice magic you make an outlet for magic, which is why you become more efficient with practice. It's like exercise. For the Charmed ones, their powers are an immediate outlet. There's very little in between their powers and their mind. It's very streamlined. And for Tara, that scythe is a streamlined outlet. That's why she can pick up radio signals with it. The radio signals it picks up are going directly into her brain."

Willow frowned, "Now when you say directly into her brain. You mean it's irradiating her head?"

"No." Dawn said then frowned, "At least I hope not. That would not be good."

"So you mean it's become an extension of her?"

"Oh. Yes. That's what I mean."

"An extension of her will? Like the Charmed one's powers?"

"Almost exactly like that."

"So what's it do?"

Dawn frowned, "I have no idea."

Willow frowned too, "You really have no idea?"

"Not really, no. I think it has more to it than just giving Tara the odd extra sensory perception. I couldn't say what though. The type of magic that was used to make it is not only extinct now but it was very rare when it was around."

"You've got to know something."

Dawn shook her head, "Sorry. I don't. The scythe's magical essence is my own anti-thesis. Beyond being able to tell that it's dangerous and that it's grown an unhealthy attachment to Tara, I can't tell much else."

"What about when Tell said it was broken and had me and Tara try to fix it?" Willow asked angrily.

Dawn backed up, "Uh, Willow. Tell did think it was broken. It was covered in some sort of gooey murky magic. Now it's not. Now its magical field feels clean and sharp and like an axe should."

Willow frowned, not getting the answers she wanted.

"I'm sorry I can't help more." Dawn said depressed, "But you know I don't want anything to happen to Tara. She's my best friend. I mean, she was my best friend."

"That's okay." Willow said trying not to take it out on Dawn, "Are you okay?"

"I guess. It's just… coming back here. It's strange."

"I meant are you hurt?" Willow clarified, "You've got a scratch on your face."

"It will pass."

"How did you get it?"

Dawn smirked, "You think this is bad, you should see the other guy."

Willow chuckled, seeing that Dawn wasn't totally doom and gloom.

"Tara's waiting for you." Dawn reminded Willow.

Willow tilted her head and asked "How would you know that? I don't go absolutely everywhere with her."

"I heard her stutter something when the door was opened." Dawn explained, "And yeah. You do go absolutely everywhere with her. It just seems unnatural for you to do otherwise. You two are so cute. I, uh, I told you that before, didn't I?"

Willow thought about it, "No but I got the impression you approved."

"Oh, I do. Very much so."

Willow gave her a wide smile, "Thanks. And you're right. I shouldn't keep her waiting. I'll give her a kiss for you."

Dawn frowned, "I don't think she'll appreciate that."

"Why not?"

"Umm, I kinda killed her dad, remember?"

Willow stopped herself from leaving and turned back to Dawn. She looked her in the eyes for a moment before asking, "When Buffy told Tell to leave, he said something about her dad. That her dad did things to girls-"

"Willow" Dawn cut her off, "Tara's Dad was.. I'm glad Tara doesn't take after him. I stand by what Tell said. He was a monster."

"But how could you know that?"

Dawn frowned, "When people are angry, I can sometimes pick up on things they've done. Some of the bad things they've done. Tara's dad, he was.. I don't want to talk about it."

"You're psychic?" Willow asked, seemingly a little scared of Dawn now.

"Just a little bit. Just sometimes."

Willow tried reciting the alphabet backwards in her head and asked "Have you ever gotten any flashes off me?"

Dawn shrugged, "Only something about throwing a GI Joe at Xander."

Willow's mouth fell open, "Oh my god! That was years ago."

"He's probably forgiven you for it by now. If he hasn't, try apologizing."

Willow scratched her head, "I might just do that. Uh, good night, Dawn."

"Good night, Willow."

Willow left the room quite quickly and Dawn heard her shuffle down the corridor with Tara.

As they left, Buffy came into the room and asked Dawn to follow her.

OXOXOX

An hour later and despite how tired her body was, Buffy was still awake, talking to Dawn as they both sat in her car which was parked on the curb.

"I don't get it. Light wobbles? Since when does light wobble?" Buffy asked.

"It doesn't wobble. It moves sinuously." Dawn explained, curving her hand up and down like a eel on it's side or like someone trying to break dance with only one arm.

"Sinusly? Like up my nose?" Buffy asked like a true blonde, as if she didn't know what Dawn was talking about.

"No. Like as in sin waves. Like how snakes move."

"Okay. Let's just say light moves like a snake." Buffy agreed to disagree, "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Well. It's the basis of wave theory."

Buffy nodded, "Uh-huh. And how does this fit with particle theory?"

Dawn chuckled, "It doesn't. That's the whole point."

"Huh?"

"The history of wave-particle theory is about two branches of science which at one point were at loggerheads but then merged to make one slightly confusing but ultimately truer science. It's possible that this is the path for all sciences."

Buffy raised an eyebrow, "And what other sciences do you think could merge like this?"

"The most obvious would be Einsteinian and quantum physics. And the gap between geneticism and medicine is getting smaller every day. Actually, this train of thought could be good for religion and studies into the mind too. Almost every religion I know of is founded on the idea that we're more than the bodies we live in. Some religions will fight wars with other religions when in reality they worship the same creator figure. I think it's important that we should focus on our similarities instead of our differences, don't you?"

Buffy had missed this, just chatting to Dawn about mindless rubbish. Now that Dawn had a few thousand years of experience under her, the mindless rubbish was of a slightly higher caliber. Yet, all this rubbish was still mindless in true babbling Dawn fashion which comforted Buffy.

Buffy yawned but nodded, "Yeah. Similarities. I'm all with you on that."

Dawn looked at the floor, embarrassed, "Sorry. You're tired. I didn't think of the time."

"It's okay. I'm really just glad your back."

Dawn suddenly chuckled and Buffy asked "What?"

"I was just thinking. It's was pretty obvious I'm not your sister."

Buffy frowned, "What do you mean?"

"My boobs. They're so small." Dawn said, laughing louder.

Buffy laughed, "You're only fifteen. You probably haven't grown into them yet."

"Yeah but when you were fifteen they were huge. Bigger than they are now."

"They grew smaller?" Buffy asked, looking at her chest, "They can't do that."

"You've lost a lot of weight since then." Dawn explained.

Buffy frowned, "That's not right."

"Have.. Have you been eating properly?" Dawn asked hesitantly, "I'm not saying you're anorexic or anything it's just I worry. And before you say it, I know slaying burns a lot of calories."

"I'm not that skinny am I?"

Dawn nodded her head in a so-so way, "You could do with adding a few pounds."

Buffy sighed, "I've been a bit stressed recently with everything that's been happening recently. Riley left us and there were the mass demon attacks and then you kinda died."

"Sorry about that."

Buffy smiled warmly at Dawn, "So not your fault."

Dawn smiled back, "Isn't it okay to feel bad about dying?"

"Yes. Yes, it is bad. Stop that right now." Buffy joked and Dawn rolled her eyes.

"I quit university." Buffy added.

"Why?"

"My heart wasn't really in it. I've just been too stretched and like I say, it was taking a toll on her health."

Dawn nodded slowly, "Um. Talking of which, you look like you could do with some sleep. You should get in bed."

Buffy nodded and got out of the car, followed by Dawn.

They walked up to the front door and Dawn stopped.

"You're not coming in?" Buffy asked, "Your bed is still there for you…"

Dawn hung her head and mumbled out "I don't sleep."

"Oh."

Dawn shrugged and looked around the dimly lit Sunnydale street, "I think I'll just take a walk for a while. I really need to clear my head."

"Uh, Dawn. There could be vampires out there."

Dawn chuckled and pulled a thin knife-like stake out of the holster in her boot, "I've always been an advocate for bringing your own protection."

Buffy chuckled at her own selective memory, "I guess you'll be okay then… Will you still be around when I wake up?"

"Sure."

"Thanks Dawn." Buffy said with a grin then rethought something then asked "Or is it Lucy?"

Dawn thought about it and grinned widely, "I think I like Dawn."

Buffy gave her a matching grin, "Me too."

Still grinning, Dawn laughed at Buffy, "Now go inside and get some sleep. You look horrible."

Buffy laughed and said "So that's where you got your looks from."

Dawn turned out into the street and started walking, throwing up her hands in defeat, "I give up."

Buffy chuckled and made her way inside. Once she closed the door, her fatigue really started to hit her. She idly thought about just crashing on the couch but shook her head to wake herself up and as she did, that thought left her. Instead, she walked slowly up the stairs to her room.

The house was quiet and no lights were on so Joyce must've still been asleep. Buffy sighed knowing that in the morning there was going to be a lot of explaining on her part. She wasn't just going to have to explain about Dawn but how she just bolted in the middle of the night.

At the top of the stairs, Buffy paused. There was something different here. Not wrong, just different. It was dancing just on the peripherals of her Slayer senses.

Sensing that it was coming from Dawn's old room, she opened the door slowly and turned the lights on.

Instead of Dawn's room, she found the old storage room is used to be. There was no bed with soft toys assembled around the pillows. Instead there were dusty old boxes and a few of Joyce's old painting projects. Resting on a dusty box near the door was a tacky blue and slightly melted plastic picture frame. In the picture, it had Xander hugging Buffy and Faith. The two Slayers didn't seem happy with the arrangement but Willow and Spike were laughing in the background. Buffy remembered the night Dawn took that photo at the bronze, saying it was for a homework project about role models or something.

It was sad that photo frame was the only personal effect from Dawn's old life with them but it held no sickness for Buffy. She felt calm, almost soothed that the room was no longer haunted by memories of a dead sister she never had.

Buffy turned the light off and closed the door. Something made her feel that tonight she was going to sleep soundly. A quiet, slightly sad but sound sleep.

OXOXOX

FIN

Author notes: Well, it's official. I suck. I really think I used a bit too much micromanagement and explanation in this one. What do you think?

In the next ep, I think I'll try flying by the seat of my pants a little more… heh. What DOES that phrase mean? It keeps making me think about fart-propelled people.

Also, While checking through some of the other episodes, I realized something. My spellchecking sucks. I mean really. How do you feel off a chair? sigh . Yuh, I man idiot.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Rest and relaxation and read and review.


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